Reuniting
by mystery of the mist
Summary: Andy Yablonski's daughter does not like Lisa Reed.  She plans to reunite her parents.  Lisa is the only thing in the way.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Three Rivers_.**

**This is my first story for this show. I watched every episode when I found out Alex O'Loughlin was in it!**

**I realize Lisa Reed may be a little out of character. That helps the plot of the story.**

**Please let me know what you think and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

Courtney pulls her new car into a space in front of Three Rivers. The car was a gift from her father when she got her license three months ago. They were still talking then.

Courtney is wearing her usual ensemble which consists of anything dark. Right now it's black jeans with a long sleeve purple t-shirt. And, of course, her Converse sneakers add the finishing touch. She realizes that although she tried to tone her dark appearance down, she probably looks scary to little kids, so this whole thing she's doing right now is pretty ironic. But she has to do this because when else does she have the opportunity to see her dad?

She walks into the lobby of the pediatric unit at Three Rivers, reminding herself that it isn't too late to back out of this. But she's in front of the desk now, and as the receptionist looks up from her computer, Courtney realizes there's no chance to back out of this now.

"Courtney!" the receptionist greets warmly. Of course everyone already knows who she is. Even though it's her first day volunteering at Three Rivers, she's familiar with the staff. After all, she spent a lot of time growing up here since this is where her father works.

Courtney doesn't have the same enthusiasm as the receptionist. In fact, she rarely has any enthusiasm for anything these days. She simply nods to return the greeting, along with replying, "Hey, Ruby."

She's pretty sure Ruby goes into one of those "look-how-much-you've-grown- since-the last-time-you've-been-here!" speeches, but she's not really listening. Courtney just wants to get this over with.

When Ruby finally finishes talking, Courtney turns around. The room is filled with little kids, all patients of Three Rivers. This is the moment when Courtney sees him.

His name is Tyler. He goes to the same school as Courtney, a grade older. They share the same music class.

Although she doesn't know Tyler, Courtney doesn't like him, doesn't like his type. He's a jock, friends with kids who are mean to Courtney. Not that Courtney minds if anyone's mean to her, she's more than capable of keeping her head held high no matter what jokes about her being emo and rumors of cutting herself in the bathroom between classes are spread around the school.

But Tyler's never said anything to her, so Courtney decides she has no right to judge him.

Of course he ends up seeing her as well.

"Courtney!" He's all smiles, as if he's catching up with an old friend he hasn't seen in years. Courtney finds this amusing seeing as they've never spoken to each other with the exception of one project for their music class they were paired together to work on.

"Tyler."

"I didn't know you volunteered here."

"It's my first day."

Tyler nods, but his attention is pulled away as a little boy comes running over. "Tyler, guess what?"

"What, Aiden?"

"I think Phoebe likes me!"

Courtney and Tyler both follow Aiden's gaze to where a group of young girls are sitting together, giggling.

"Should I go talk to her?"

"If that's what you think you should do, yes, go talk to her."

Aiden nods, taking this very seriously. "Okay." He heads off to go talk to Phoebe.

Tyler smiles, looking back at Courtney. "The love of six-year-olds."

Courtney doesn't respond. Tyler's behavior is puzzling her. "You know, you're really confusing me."

"Why?"

"We never talk at school."

Tyler shrugs. "You don't want to talk to me. Remember that project? The only things you said to me were the instructions on what I had to do for the poster. The only thing I told you was I was confused on how to write my part of the report."

Serecetly Courtney wonders how he remembers this, but she changes the subject and says, "So do you volunteer often?"

Tyler nods. "Yeah, I come here a lot."

"Me, too."

"I thought you said this your first time volunteering?"

"My dad works here."

"Really? What's he do?"

"He's a surgeon, does transplants and stuff, I don't know. It's too confusing to explain."

A girl who can't be older than five walks over to them. Her eyes are sad. "Tyler? I got hurt."

Courtney takes a mental note that the kids seem to really like Tyler.

After a few comforting reassurances and a bandage is placed over the cut the girl receieved from banging into the wall, Jessica goes back to play with the other kids.

"This is how it goes?" Courtney asks, looking around.

"Pretty much," Tyler confirms. "But it's worth it, you know? No one should have to go what these kids are going through, yet they're forced to do it so young. It's good to help, try to make them happier and less nervous."

Courtney is surprised at Tyler's words. She's always considered him to be just like the rest of his friends, so this Mr. Nice stuff comes as a surprise.

"Yeah, that's good." What a lame respone. Too bad Courtney realizes this after she says it.

_Whoa, hold it right there_, Courtney thinks. _Why do I care if he thinks it's lame? He's just a stupid jock_.

Tyler nods. "Until you have to calm a kid down when they see a needle coming their way."

Courtney actually smiles. She never considered that Tyler was...well, that his personality was like this.

"You don't seem thrilled to be here," Tyler points out.

Courtney shrugs and her smile fades, a darker look taking over her face. "Kids tend to be afraid of me. It's my appearance. Really, though, I only signed up so I could see my dad."

"Things not good between you and him?"

"You could say that. We used to be so close." Courtney's smile comes back, albeit slightly, as she thinks back to when she was a little kid, how she used to run into her dad's arms when he came home from work. The smile is gone again when she begins to speak again. "My parents are seperated. My dad stays in the hotel right next to this place."

"So you don't seem him a lot?"

Courtney sighs. "He's called me, texted me, even called my mom at work to ask why I wasn't responding to him. I've been so mad at him recently. I thought he was the reason he and my mom seperated. He's turned into a workaholic. I hated seeing my mother wiping her tears and trying to be strong every night he didn't come home and worked into the next day."

Tyler is silent for a moment, but Courtney can tell he's trying to think of what he should say. He settles on, "Look, I'm not going to lie and say I know how you feel because this has never happened to me and I'm sure you don't want to be lied to."

"You'd be correct."

"I thought so. But maybe you could talk to him. Tell him how you feel. He'll know what to do."

"He's a surgeon, not a psychiatrist."

"True, but as a doctor, wouldn't he be the first person to send you to one?"

Courtney gives Tyler a look that's traced with outrage. "To send me to one? You think that's what I need to do, go to a psychiatrist? That's not what I want! I don't want to talk to some shrink about all my problems and how much my life sucks. I just want my dad to come home every night and ask me how my day was and do things that most fathers do."

"You should still tell him how you feel."

Courtney doesn't say anything because she knows Tyler is right, she just doesn't want to admit it.

The hour seems to go by quickly and Courtney and Tyler are both ready to leave. This is when Tyler surprises Courtney the most.

"I'm going to go talk to my dad," Courtney announces as they head for the elevator.

"Okay. I'll walk you there."

Courtney can't stop her eyes from going wide with shock. The cutest (whoa, where did that come from?), most popular boy in school just offered the goth girl to walk her where she needed to go.

"O-okay. That sounds good." Courtney stumbles to accept the offer, barely managing to form the word "okay."

They exit the elevator at the proper floor and walk to the reception area of the transplant wing. She looks for her dad but can't find him, so she tries to find Miranda, David, or Pam. She can't find them, either, so she and Tyler walk over to the desk. Courtney doesn't recognize who's sitting there.

"Are you new here?" Courtney asks.

Ryan looks up from the computer. "Yeah. I was the assistant transplant coordinator but now I'm _the _transplant coordinator-"

"Alright," Courtney says, stopping him from rambling. "I'm just looking for Dr. Yablonski."

"Are you here for an appointment?"

Courtney and Tyler both shake their heads.

"So you..." Ryan doesn't really know what to say. "You just know him or something?"

Courtney smiles and gives a short laugh. "Yeah, you could say that."

Ryan is relieved to see the doctor in question walking over to them. "Here he is now."

Courtney turns around to find her father approaching. He's grinning stupidly, but his daughter has refused to see him for a month now, so he has an excuse.

"Hi, sweetheart."

Courtney decides to make amends. "Hi, Daddy. I'm sorry I haven't talked to you."

"It's okay, Courtney. I understand."

He may say that, but it's clear he was disappointed every time Courtney hung up on him. Courtney feels guilty.

A blonde woman in scrubs walks over to the group, sending a smile to Andy. Courtney decides it lasted too long to be a friendly smile. There's something going on.

"Courtney, this is Dr. Lisa Reed. Lisa, this is Courtney, my daughter," Andy introduces.

Lisa appears a bit surprised but is still smiling when she says, "Nice to meet you, Courtney."

"Yeah. You, too." Courtney considers making a sarcastic remark but the look of warning her on her father's face stops her. She wants to get out of here. "Oh, look. There's Miranda. Tyler, you should meet her." She leads the way to where she spotted the woman who has become an older sister to her.

"Hey, Miranda."

"Hey, Courtney. You haven't been here in a while."

They continue to talk and Courtney introduces Tyler to Miranda, but her mind is focused on Lisa Reed.

* * *

><p>"You've never told me you have a daughter," Lisa says when she and Andy are alone.<p>

"Actually, I have two."

Lisa raises her eyebrows. "And it never occurred to you to tell me that?"

"So I assumre you want to know I have a son also?"

"Okay, let me get this straight. You have three kids and you've never told me about any of them?"

"Courtney is sixteen. Rena and I married right out of high school and we didn't plan on having kids for a few years. You can see that didn't go as planned. But we don't reget it. We're so thankful for Courtney. We were nineteen when she was born. We waited a few more years until having more kids. My son Will is ten and my other daughter Brooke is four."

"You never thought to tell me that?"

"Do you have something against me having kids?"

Lisa shrugs. "I don't know. I didn't think of you as...the type."

"The type?"

"Yeah, you know, the type to have kids. I never pictured you as a father."

"Is that supposed to mean you think I'm a bad father?"

"No, it means I just don't see you as a dad, never mind a dad to three kids!"

"You say three kids like that's a bad thing."

Lisa sighs. "I never planned on this. I never expected kids."

Andy doesn't like the way Lisa is talking about his children. They are the reason he has been able to remain sane during the seperation with Rena. He's only seen Will and Brooke in the past month, and now that Courtney is here, he realizes how important family is to have. He feels like an idiot for getting too caught up in work.

He wants to get his family back together. He just doesn't know where to begin.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Courtney is grinning as she watches Lisa storm away angrily.<p>

"What are we smiling at?" Pam asks, joining the group.

"She's mad," Courtney says, her gaze following Lisa's steps in the direction of the elevator.

"She's a bitch, really," Miranda comments. "Your dad deserves better."

Courtney's voice is quiet when she says, "He deserves my mom."


	2. Chapter 2

Courtney arrives at home just as her mom finishes cooking dinner. Brooke and Will are setting the table.

"Hey, Courtney," Rena greets, giving her oldest daughter a one-armed hug as she starts to dish the pasta she just finished making. "How did it go?"

"Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad." Then she adds quietly, "I saw Dad."

Rena snaps her head up. "Really? How was he? I bet he was happy to see you. He's been calling to try to talk to you for a month and you've been ignoring him. He had to be happy to see you."

When Mom rambles on about Dad like this, Courtney knows her parents are still in love with each other.

"Yeah, he was happy."

"Was he with that girl? Leslie? Liza? Laura?"

"Lisa Reed," Courtney says with a distinct tone of aversion. "She was there but she got mad and left."

Courtney doesn't miss the grin that appears on her mom's face for a second. She can't help but grin as well.

"So I met a guy today," Courtney says and almost slaps herself when the words are out of her mouth. Why does she feel this way about some jock who she's barely spoken to?

But Mom's eyes light up. She's been so worried about Courtney. She knows her oldest daughter has been taking the seperation hard. The news of Courtney having interaction with other people instead of camping out in her room gives Rena hope. "Really? What's his name? What's he like?"

"His name is Tyler. I go to school with him and he was also volunteering today. He's a year older than me. I've never really talked to him much before today."

"That's awesome. Is he going to be there tomorrow?"

"Not sure. I guess I'll have to find out."

Brooke comes skipping over in all her four-year-old glory. "Courtney! I saved you a seat next to me!" She grabs her sister's hand and drags her to the table.

Rena smiles. While Courtney usually shows no feelings about anything, she always treats her brother and sister with love and care.

* * *

><p>Lisa walks into Andy's office and this time she notices three picture frames on the desk. The room is always such a mess that she's never noticed the pictures before. Lisa sees the picture of the girl she saw earlier, Courtney, as well as one of a boy, Will, and a girl younger than Courtney, Brooke.<p>

She just cannot grasp the idea of three kids. One takes up enough time, two are chaotic, but three? That just brings hectic to a whole new level. How could someone stand that?

"That was at Brooke's dance recital."

Lisa almost jumps, not expecting to hear Andy. Apparently he came in and she hadn't realized it.

"Her second year of dance," Andy continues, picking up the picture of Brooke wearing all pink, from the ribbon in her hair and the leotard to the tutu and the ballet shoes. "That was last year. She has a recital coming up this month. She wants to be just like her sister. Courtney danced until high school. You can imagine what it's like to sit through three hours of a dance recital. I can barely keep my eyes open. But it's worth seeing Brooke so happy."

Lisa forces a smile. She couldn't care any less about the kids.

"This is at Will's basketball game," Andy says, now holding the picture of his son. "He was the leading scorer this season." His voice is proud. "He says was embarrassed to have Rena take this picture. This was after they won the championship. He kept saying all his friends were there but he finally let Rena take a picture quickly."

Lisa scowls at the mention of Rena but makes sure Andy doesn't notice.

Andy lifts the picture of Courtney off of his desk. She's sitting at the piano, her fingers on the keys, her eyes glued to the sheet music in front of her. She's not smiling; she's very serious whenever she plays the piano. But her face is content and it's clear she's relaxed, at peace as she plays. "Rena taught her how to play."

Again he mentions Rena. Lisa wants Rena to go far away and take the brats with her.

* * *

><p>The next day at school, Courtney is met with the usual goth jokes from her classmates. She holds her head high and looks straight ahead as she walks, using every ounce of self-control she has to restrain herself from punching every single one of those losers.<p>

She reaches her locker and quickly enters the combination, wanting to get out of the hallway as fast as possible. Courtney fills her bag with the books for her first two classes before she slams her locker shut, something that makes the two spray tanned cheerleaders not-so-quietly talking about her jump.

Courtney does what she always does at this time. She walks over to the sign that says "restrooms." No one comes in at this time. Everyone stands in front of the lockers, gossiping and crap, stuff Courtney doesn't waste her time doing.

She digs through the books in her bag until she finds what she's looking for. It's raveled in an old t-shirt that she hastily unwraps.

She doesn't make the cuts deep; she plans on coming back during lunch. This is the only place she _can _go at lunch since nobody wants her to sit with them. Courtney's sick of being alone.

At the sound of the bell, Courtney buries the razor blade back in the bottom of her bag before going to her first class.

The morning passes slowly, like it always does, accompanied by the typical "Oh, look, here's the wrist slitting goth bitch!" comments directed at Courtney. The accusations of Courtney cutting herself were only based on her appearance. Her peers didn't know that she really did self-harm.

When it's time for lunch, Courtney doesn't even bother to go in the cafeteria, just heads straight for the bathroom. She decides against eating. She knows avoiding food can do a lot of harm, so if she gets sick, maybe her parents will be so worried about her that they'll get back together. It's a long shot but it's worth a try.

Reaching in her backpack, Courtney moves aside the brown paper bag containing what would have been her lunch and grabs her old t-shirt. She cuts herself again before pulling her sleeves down. She always made sure to wear long sleeves to cover her self inflicted wounds.

When lunch is over, Courtney returns to the hallway and makes her way to her next class. The day is uninteresting, as always, until she gets to her last class.

She walks to the music room and is the first student present. That's not a surprise to her. Her peers stop and talk to each other in between classes. Courtney goes directly where she's supposed to go.

The privilege of getting to class early is being able to choose where you sit. Courtney takes a seat in the front row. This way she's able to avoid having to hear many of the goth jokes that mostly originate from the back of the room.

The biggest surprise of the day happens when another student walks into the room shortly after Courtney and sits beside her.

Courtney meets Tyler's gaze with shocked eyes. "You're sitting next to me," she points out.

Tyler shrugs. "Is that a problem?"

"No, not at all, I just figured you would want to sit with your friends." She says the last word with a hint of distaste.

"Thought I'd change things up a little bit."

Courtney nods and faces forward again. She can feel Tyler looking at her. "Do you have a camera?"

His face shows his confusion. "I have my phone camera. Why?" He reaches into his backpack to take out his cell phone.

"So you can take a picture. It'll last longer."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're staring at me."

Tyler looks embarrassed. "Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. But as long as I have my phone out, do you, uh, do you want to put your number in here?"

Courtney thinks about it for a moment as more students come in the room. They're laughing, thinking Tyler sitting next to her is some sort of joke, but Courtney thinks he's being serious.

"Okay." She types her number into his phone and hands it back to him.

"Great. I'll text you and you can save my number."

Courtney just nods.

Their conversation comes to a close when Mrs. Finch begins teaching. The lesson is on key signatures, something Courtney already knows. Her mom taught her this years ago when she first started to play the piano.

"In A major, C, F, and G are sharp."

Courtney isn't really paying much attention to Mrs. Finch. This stuff is easy for her to understand, like second nature.

"Okay, pair up and sit at a keyboard," Mrs. Finch instructs the class. "One group will have three people. Take turns playing the major scales I went over."

There are seven keyboards in the room with fifteen students (the class is small since it's an elective course) looking for seats. Nobody ever wants to work with her, so of course it comes as a surprise to Courtney when Tyler asks her to work with him.

"You can go first," he says.

Courtney puts her thumb in middle C, getting ready to play the C major scale. This is the first time Mrs. Finch told the class to use the keyboards and Courtney wastes no time. She begins to play scale after scale, completing the four major keys Mrs. Finch went over.

"Wow," Tyler comments, staring blankly at the black and white keys. "You're really good. You're the first one finished."

Courtney shrugs, trying to hide the smile that's threatening to take over her face when she hears the compliment. "They're just simple scales. I've been playing the piano for a while. It's easy for me."

"Yeah, not for me," Tyler says, beginning to play the first scale. It's a disaster and his face shows that he knows it's awful.

But Courtney is full of support. She doesn't like putting people down and isn't looking to hurt anyone's feelings. "It wasn't...that bad."

"Feel free to be as honest as you want."

Courtney sighs. "You want me to be honest?"

Tyler nods. "Brutally honest."

"There are no flats or sharps in C major."

"What's that mean?"

Courtney sighs and goes on to explain everything Tyler needs to know about playing scales.

Tyler is barely able to finish one scale by the time the bell rings, signaling the end of the day.

"I play the guitar. It's nowhere near as hard as this," he remarks as he picks up his backpack.

"Playing the piano isn't that hard once you get the hang of it."

"I don't think that's going to happen for me." Then he smiles as he asks, "You're volunteering today, right?" His tone is hopeful.

Courtney nods. "Yeah."

"Okay. I'll see you there."

Courtney watches as Tyler leaves the room, his words echoing in her ears. She wants to tell him she's leaving to go to the hospital right now, but there's something she wants to do first.

"Mrs. Finch?"

The music teacher smiles. "Yes, Courtney?"

"Do you mind if I stay and play the piano for a little bit?"

"Of course not. I'm going to a meeting right now, so you'll be alone. Is that okay?"

Courtney nods. "Thank you."

"Anytime, Courtney." She leaves the room to attend the staff meeting in the school library.

Courtney sits down at the mahogany upright piano in the front of the room. She immediately begins playing Scott Joplin's _The Entertainer_. She closes her eyes, not needing to look at the keys. It's what she plays to calm down whenever she's stressed out. It's upbeat, just what she needs at a time like this.

As she plays, she thinks about what she's doing to herself. She's been cutting for a while. Today she decided to stop eating. It's self-harm, that's what she doing. And all the harm Courtney brings upon herself she thinks contributes to something good. She thinks if it gets bad enough that her parents find out and they're so worried about her, they'll get back together. Harming herself can reunite them. She's got this all figured out.

_It's up to you to bring them back together_, Courtney tells herself.

_But at what cost?_

It's creepy how the voice in the back of her head sounds a lot like Mom.

_It's the only way things can get better_, Courtney thinks.

_Really? Harming yourself makes things better? Why don't you explain how that works?_

When did Dad get here?

"You're really good."

The voice that brings Courtney out of her thoughts makes her jump and slam on the keys causing the piano to make an awful sound.

"Well, it was good up until that point."

Courtney glares at Tyler. "Very funny."

"I try. So are you ready to go?"

"Yeah. I'm going to my locker first."

"I'll go with you."

It doesn't take Courtney long to put all her books away. She gets all her homework done during her study; nobody ever talks to her so there are no distractions. She and Tyler walk to the student parking lot.

"Where are you going?" Tyler asks when Courtney starts to walk to her car.

"My car. I think that's fairly obvious."

"I'll give you a ride. I'll bring you back to get your car."

Courtney shrugs. "Okay. Thanks."

The silence isn't awkward on the way to Three Rivers. Courtney doesn't know why, but she feels comfortable around Tyler. She admits to herself that she may like him a little. But really, what's wrong with that?

Courtney thinks today went better than yesterday when she volunteered. She tried to tone down her dark appearance, wearing dark gray jeans and a deep maroon t-shirt. It's better than yesterday's dark ensemble consisting black jeans and purple t-shirt. The kids are a little less afraid of her today.

"I'm gonna go see my dad," Courtney announces after the hour passes. She begins to walk to the elevator with Tyler following her.

This time Courtney has no trouble finding her dad. He's in the lobby, writing something down in a chart on a clipboard. He smiles when he sees Courtney and walks over to join her.

"We just finished volunteering," Courtney explains. "We have to get my car at school."

"So you came here together?" Andy questions, going wide eyed when he sees his daughter and that kid next to her nodding. He doesn't like the idea of Courtney anywhere near a boy.

Lisa walks over before anything else is said. _Great,_ she sarcastically thinks when she sees Courtney. _The brat's going to be here everyday. How nice. _Nevertheless, she forces a smile at Andy's daughter.

Courtney doesn't return the smile. She just watches as Lisa hands Andy a patient's file and tells him she'll see him later. She sees Lisa's smile turn smug before walking away.

"We better get going," Courtney says, but has another idea on her mind. "I'll see you tomorrow, Dad."

"Bring Will and Brooke if you can."

Courtney nods. "I will. Bye, Daddy."

"Bye, honey."

Courtney leads the way out of the hospital. She stops when she steps outside, Tyler doing the same beside her.

"What are we doing?" he questions.

"Lisa's talking on her phone," Courtney whispers, looking a little ahead of them where the doctor had her cell phone pressed against her ear.

"Hey, Melanie," Lisa says. She pauses, listening to the other person, Melanie, talk. Then she continues, "No, you're right, I'm working, but I needed to talk to my best friend. You know that doctor I was telling you about?" Another pause to listen to Melanie. "Yeah. He's so hot and he's a surgeon. You know how much money he probably makes? Well it turns out he has three kids. Three brats, Melanie!"

Courtney stars to walk away. Tyler follows her and hears her say, "I've heard enough."

Courtney doesn't say anything else until they get in Tyler's car. Then she starts to rant. "I knew there was a reason to hate her. She only likes my dad for his money and she thinks my brother, sister, and I are brats. She hasn't even met Will and Brooke and she's hardly ever talked to me!"

Suddenly Courtney gets even more determined to reunite her parents.


	3. Chapter 3

Courtney goes straight to the bathroom during lunch, just like the previous day. She adds more cuts to her wrists. Again she doesn't eat anything. She didn't have dinner last night. She told her mom she had a big lunch and she wasn't hungry. This morning she purposely took a long time to get ready for school. That way she had the excuse of being late if she took the time to have breakfast.

At the end of the day, Tyler offers Courtney to drive her to the hospital. Courtney politely declines, explaining that she needs to pick up her brother and sister.

It takes ten minutes for Courtney to get home. When she arrives, she finds Brooke excitingly sharing the details of her day at pre-school to their grandmother.

"Hi, Grandma," Courtney greets.

It's clear that Patricia is Rena's mother. The mother and daughter look just like each other, even if Patricia's long hair has traces of gray. Patricia watches Will and Brooke when they get home from school until either Courtney or Rena get home.

"Hi, Courtney. How was school?"

"Good." It's a lie that Courtney is so used to telling. "I came to pick up Brooke and Will and take them to see Dad."

Patricia nods. She wishes her daughter would come to her senses and realize she and Andy are meant to be, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.

Since Will's school isn't far from the house, he walks home. He's happy to hear that Courtney is taking him to see their dad.

"Thank you, Grandma." Courtney hugs Patricia before she leaves.

"Of course, dear. Have a good time."

* * *

><p>Tyler is waiting outside Three Rivers when Courtney pulls into the parking lot. She holds her siblings' hands and leads the way to the entrance to the hospital.<p>

"Hey, Courtney," Tyler says with a smile. "These must be your brother and sister."

"This is Will and this is Brooke. Will, Brooke, this is Tyler, my...friend," Courtney introduces. "I'm going to bring you two to see Dad and then I'm going with Tyler to the children's hospital to volunteer."

"I'll go with you," Tyler states, accompanying the three siblings in the elevator.

When they step into the transplant wing, Brooke walks ahead a little, turning her head from side to side in an attempt to find her father.

"That can't be Brooke Yablonski, right, David?" a voice close by asks.

Brooke's face breaks out into a grin as she rushes forward to hug Pam. "It's me, Auntie Pam!"

"You've gotten so big, Brookie," Pam says, lifting the little girl off the ground. She returns Brooke's hug before handing her to David.

"You're right, Pam. She's gotten so big I just might...drop her!" David fakes that he's going to let Brooke fall from his arms, causing the four-year-old to burst into a fit of giggles.

"Don't drop me, Uncle David!"

"I'd never do that, Brookie."

"Do you know where my dad is?" Courtney asks.

"He should be around here somewhere. All I know is he's not in surgery," Pam explains as she pulls Will in for a hug and then Courtney.

After Courtney introduces Tyler to Pam and David, she sees her dad walking towards the group.

Brooke's face lights up and she jumps into her father's arms. "Daddy!"

"Hi, Brookie." Andy holds his daughter close. He hasn't seen his kids a lot recently, and he can't describe the feeling of seeing them now. It's amazing, he thinks, the feeling of having his three kids together. But still...Rena isn't here. And she should be.

"I missed you, Daddy."

"I missed you, too, sweetheart." He puts Brooke back on her feet and turns to hug his son. "Hey, Will."

Will grins. "Hey, Dad! Are you coming to my baseball game tonight? It's at six-thirty."

"I'll be there."

"Cool! I'm gonna be the starting pitcher."

"That's awesome, buddy!"

Meanwhile, Lisa walks into the transplant wing, looking for Andy. To her strong disliking, she finds him talking to Courtney and two other kids who she assumes are Will and Brooke. She allows herself to scowl for a moment before putting on a fake smile and walking over to Andy and the three brats, as she likes to call them.

Courtney immediately glares at Dr. Reed. She thinks Lisa needs to back off; _Rena _is supposed to be the woman in Andy's life.

Brooke and Will stay in Andy's office while Courtney and Tyler head to the childrens' hospital. The kids are thrilled to see Tyler, of course, and Courtney thinks they're even starting to warm up to her. Again the hour flies by and it's time to leave.

* * *

><p>Courtney feels very weak. She hasn't had anything to eat in two days. Last night she told her mom that her stomach was hurting and she couldn't eat anything. Mom had looked at her with suspicion since that was the second night in a row of Courtney not eating. Eventually Courtney convinced her mother that she actually didn't feel good (and it was the truth-she felt weak from not eating).<p>

The next day at lunch she skips eating again, just makes cuts after cut to her wrists. Things are getting bad. They're getting out of control.

She goes with Tyler to volunteer at the childrens' hospital and brings her siblings just like yesterday. When she goes home, Courtney tells her mom she has a science test tomorrow that she really needs to study for, so she's going to eat in her room. She doesn't wait for Mom's answer, just goes straight upstairs. She studies like she said she was going to but doesn't touch the food on the plate in front of her.

Courtney waits until she hears her mom playing Beethoven's _Moonlight Sonata_ on the grand piano in the entry room. Then she goes into the kitchen to get rid of the food, followed by putting the plate in the dishwasher.

More days pass of Courtney refusing to eat. The days turn into weeks. She's become addicted to not eating. She exercies as much as possible and constantly weighs herself. Things are getting bad, eventually falling apart one day when Courtney goes to the bathroom during lunch and skips eating. That's nothing new. She adds more cuts to her wrists. Stripes of red cover her arms and it's hard to look at. But it's the only way to let the pain out. She puts the razor blade back in its home of an old t-shirt discarded at the bottom of her backpack. She feels so weak; she might pass out at any minute.

Courtney hears the door swing open and tenses. Nobody else is ever there since the bathroom on the second floor and the cafeteria's on the first.

A girl Courtney only knows by her face (and that she's a sophmore) walks in, her eyes red like she's been crying, her head slightly down. Courtney gently asks, "Are you okay?"

The girl wipes at her eyes before looking back at Courtney. "I'll be fine. I'm just sick of them..."

"You're tired of everyone making fun of you, right?" Courtney knows the signs of a victim of bullying. She is one herself. "I know what you mean."

The girl nods. "I'm Mallory."

"I'm Courtney."

"You're bleeding," Mallory says suddenly, pointing to Courtney's left wrist.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no." Courtney pulls her sleeve up to reveal blood making its way out of one of today's cuts. She had cut too deep. She gratefully accepts the paper towell Mallory hands her and presses it to the wound. It stings but she'll do anything to get the bleeding under control.

"I...I'm a little dizzy," Courtney says, closing her eyes. She falls back against the wall, slowly dropping to the ground.

"Courtney!" Mallory exclaims, gently shaking the girl's right shoulder. "Can you hear me?"

Courtney hears her say she's going to get help. The last thing she remembers is the sound of Mallory running.

* * *

><p>Courtney opens her eyes a little when she hears a lot of commotion around her. She sees the walls distinct to her high school as well people standing over her and hears someone say, "She's Dr. Yablonski's daughter."<p>

If they know her as her father's daughter, that means they're EMTs.

Courtney doesn't have enough energy to stay awake and she loses consciousness again.

* * *

><p>Courtney wakes up to find white all around her. The blanket. The sheets. The gown she's wearing. She turns her head to the side and sees more white in the form of a coat. She looks up at her father. "Daddy..." Her voice is weak.<p>

Andy is relieved to see his daughter awake. "I'm right here, Courtney."

"What happened?"

"You passed out at school," Andy explains gently.

Courtney tries to sit up, but her father places a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Careful, honey. All you need to do is rest, okay?"

Courtney nods, simply looking helplessly at her dad.

Suddenly Andy sees Courtney as the little girl she used to be, the little girl that would run into his arms when he came home from work. He holds his daughter's hand in his own. He now knows Courtney harmed herself by cutting her wrists. He can't stand to see his little girl in pain. "Courtney, we need to talk about things that have been going on recently."

Courtney instinctively looks down at her wrists. The left one is wrapped in gauze. The scarlet red wounds are easily visible on the right wrist. _Dad knows_.

"You don't understand," Courtney starts to stay, but stops when she hears how pathetic her voice sounds.

"It's okay. We'll talk about it later."

Courtney shakes her head. "I need to talk now. I've gone so long without saying what's wrong."

"So can you tell me why your hurt yourself?"

"I needed a way to cope..." Courtney trails off. "You don't get it."

"Something's been bothering you," Andy says, feeling an overwhelming pang of guilt because he has a pretty good idea of what the "something" that's been bothering Courtney is.

"You moved out. I needed my daddy, but you moved out. Mom turned into a zombie." Courtney closes her eyes and shakes her head She stubbornly wipes the tears threatening to fall and shrugs. "And suddenly she wasn't there for me anymore. Well, she was, she _said _she was, but she...changed. You were too busy fighting with each other to pay attention to your own daughter! I couldn't take it anymore!"

And for the first time since her parents seperated, Courtney doesn't rely on a razor blade to release the pain she's feeling. Instead she cries, heartwrenching sobs shaking her body, despondent tears plummeting down her face. "I wear longsleeves all the time, even when it's warm out," Courtney continues through her cries, trying to keep her sobs under control. "And still nobody noticed!"

"Sweetheart, I'm so, so, so sorry. I didn't realize how much this affected you. I feel like...like..."

"It's not your fault," Courtney says, finally able to control her sobs. She's still crying, but the tears have slowed a bit. "I should have asked for help."

"Everything's going to be okay, Courtney. You can talk to someone. You're going to be fine. You're going to get through this. All of us are."

Courtney just nods, even though she wants to protest having to talk to someone. She doesn't have the energy to argue right now. "How long have I been here?"

"Not too long. As soon as the ambulance arrived, I was paged to come see you. You were unconscious and bleeding, so I stitched..." Andy closes his eyes, the image of the blood pooling around his daughter's wrist haunting him. "...your wrist. We brought you to this room not even five minutes ago. Your mom's on her way."

Miranda appears in the doorway and smiles. "Hey, Courtney. Good to see you're awake. Andy, everything's ready."

"Okay. Thanks, Miranda."

"No problem. You gotta bring her now. Otherwise the room will be taken."

"Alright, we're on our way."

"Where are we going?" Courtney questions, not liking the sound of this.

"To get your blood drawn. We need to determine what made you pass out."

"I thought I...you know...lost too much blood." Courtney's voice is quiet as she says the last part.

"I think something else on top of that contributed."

It's then that Courtney realizes Dad doesn't know about her starving herself. This isn't going to be good. Not at all.

* * *

><p>Dad's getting the results of the blood test when Mom arrives. Courtney's face is still stained with tears from earlier, and Rena rushes to the side of her bed.<p>

"Sweetie, I'm so sorry. You're never going to forgive me."

"It's okay, Mom. I needed help and I didn't say anything. It's my fault."

Rena looks sadly at her daughter. She sees the scars on Courtney's right wrist and the gauze securely wrapped around the left one. It makes her heart break, seeing the pain Courtney's gone through, and she has to talk about something else to get the thought out of her head. "So what's going on now? Where's your father?"

"He went to get the results of the blood work," Courtney explains. "He'll be back soon."

"Why don't you tell me what happened?"

Courtney sighs. "It's a long story. But basically, I was in the bathroom at school and...I started bleeding." She sees her mom tense a bit when she says that, but continues, "There was another girl there and she went to get help."

Andy walks in then, and he sees Rena for the first time in three months. Their eyes meet for a minute, simply staring back at each other, no words needed. It's their fault Courtney's here.

"What did you find?" Courtney asks, wanting to know right away if Dad found out about her starving herself.

Andy slowly turns away from Rena and looks at Courtney. His gaze becomes serious as he looks at his daughter. "Courtney, can you tell me why the result is malnutrition?"

Courtney closes her eyes. Dad's read the results and figured it out, and Mom probably has now, too, based on the word "malnutrition."

"I, um, haven't been eating much," Courtney finally admits, not able to meet her parents' eyes.

"How long has this been going on?" Andy questions. He's worried because he knows the risks anorexia-and it scares him further to associate that word with his daughter-presents.

Courtney sighs. "Next week will be three months."

She notices her parents tense when she says how long it's been, so she quickly says, "But I keep hydrated. Honestly, I do."

It remains silent in the room, nobody saying a word until finally Rena announces she has to go pick up Will and Brooke.

"Courtney, I have to go pick up your brother and sister. I'll be back as soon as I can. I love you, sweetie."

"Love you, too, Mom."

Before she leaves, Rena looks at Andy one more time. He stares back and their eyes connect for a moment. Rena turns to exit the room.

Courtney knows Mom's leaving because she doesn't want to break down in front of her. Whenever the kids are around, Rena feels like she has to be strong, so she tries to hide her tears.

Dad's voice brings Courtney out of her thoughts. "Courtney, you need to eat something. I'm going to get you some food in the cafeteria."

"I won't eat anything, so don't even bother."

"Alright, then, I'll be right back."

"Don't bother getting me food. I won't eat anything, I swear."

Andy nods. "Okay. I'll be back soon." He kisses his daughter's forehead before leaving the room.

A few minutes pass when someone else walks into Courtney's room. Courtney only hears footsteps at first, so she forces herself to hold back a sigh. It's probably a nurse checking up on her. When she turns her head to see the visitor, she smiles. "Uncle Mikey!"

"Hey, sweetheart. How are you feeling?"

Courtney shrugs. "Alright. Kinda crappy. How'd you know I was here?"

"I came to see your dad and I saw your mom in the parking lot. She told me you were here."

Dad walks back in the room alongside Pam, who's pushing an IV stand to the side of Courtney's bed. Andy greets Michael with a confused look on his face. Michael again explains how Rena told him Courtney was here.

"Why am I getting a needle stuck in me?" Courtney questions, warily looking at the IV next to her.

"You need nutrients and since you're refusing to eat, you need an IV," Andy explains gently because he knows Courtney won't respond well to this.

"No, I'm fine."

"Courtney, you need nutrients that you haven't been getting. End of discussion." Andy's voice is gentle but firm so Courtney understands that she shouldn't argue.

"Alright, here we go," Pam says as she carefully inserts the IV into Courtney's hand.

Courtney sighs. She doesn't really have a problem with needles, even though she did hold Dad's hand during the blood test. She cuts herself; she's used to the pain of piercing the skin. So getting the IV was easy...if only the rest of her recovery would go just as smoothly.


	4. Chapter 4

"You need to have a complete physical," Andy explains gently to his daughter. It's been two hours since Courtney was brought to the hospital after passing out at school. People have been in and out of the room visiting Courtney. Everyone's left now and Andy isn't going to put this off any longer.

Courtney shakes her head and simply says, "No."

Andy had known that wouldn't go over big. "It's not a question."

"I'm seventeen. I should have a say in my own medical care."

"First of all, you'll be seventeen next week, so you're still sixteen. And second, even if you were seventeen, your mom and I make decisions regarding your medical care until you turn eighteen."

Courtney sighs. She's not afraid of getting a physical. It's the results of the physical that scare her. She knows she's harmed herself a lot and she's worried about just how much damage there actually is.

"Do you really have to?" Courtney questions in a small voice.

"Yes," Andy says firmly, but keeps his tone gentle at the same time. "But if you'd rather have a female doctor instead of me, I can ask Miranda-"

"Yes, please ask her," Courtney says quickly. "But you'll stay with me, right?"

"Of course. Alright, we're going to an exam room. Can you walk or do you want me to carry you?"

Courtney takes a second to consider if her dad is serious or not, but judging by his tone, he is. "I'm almost seventeen. I can walk. I don't need to be carried."

"Just making sure. Are you ready?"

Courtney nods before slowly swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She slides her feet into the slippers laying on the ground beside the bed. She carefully stands up, placing her hands on the edge of the bed for support. "Let's go," she says, but she's a bit unsure if she's going to be able to make it walking. Well, she'll give it a shot, she decides.

Andy puts his arm behind his daughter for support. His eyes are filled with concern as he watches Courtney uneasily take a step forward. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Courtney nods stubbornly. "I can do it. I have to," she says, determination evident in her words. She takes another step foward. _You can do it, Courtney_, she tells herself.

Eventually they make it to the adolescent wing, which Courtney is thankful for, since it has a much more comfortable atmosphere than the room she was previously in. She had thought she could have had a complete physical or whatever Dad said it was in that room, but now this makes sense. She figures Dad brought her here to make her more comfortable.

Courtney's relieved when Dad points out which room they're going in. She doesn't think she can stand for much longer; if she doesn't lay down soon, she thinks she might pass out again. She's worried she won't be able to sit on the exam table. Much to her relief, Dad carefully lifts her and sets her down on the table.

"Okay, I'm going to go find Miranda. I'll be right back," Andy says after placing Courtney's medical chart on the desk in the room before leaving.

Courtney looks down at her wounded wrists, one covered by angry red gashes and the other wrapped in gauze, hiding the deep cuts she's inflicted on herself. They sting slightly, but she's used to the pain they bring.

_What did I do to myself?_

Anorexia has done a lot to her over the course of three months. She feels weak and she's become much more thin than she ever has been.

She's brought out of her thoughts when her dad returns. Miranda's here now, too, and she gives Courtney an empathetic smile.

"Hey, Court. You ready?" Miranda asks after she reviews the file on the desk.

"Yeah," Courtney replies with a nod. She sees her father standing beside the table with his arms crossed and a look of worry on his face.

Throughout the physical, Courtney notices her dad's face remains in the same worried look. When Miranda starts to ask questions concerning Courtney's health, Andy listens closely to his daughter's answers.

"I know this is probably going to be hard, but I can you answer some questions for me?" Miranda asks she picks up a pen, ready to write information in Courtney's file.

"Alright," Courtney replies quietly, hoping this won't be embarrassing because, after all, her dad is there.

"Okay. How often to you self-harm?"

"Every day," Courtney admits and she finds herself unable to look at her father to see his reaction. "Every day at lunch."

Miranda nods and writes something down in the file. "How long has this been going on for?"

"It's been at least five months, probably more."

Andy mentally curses himself. He feels like such a failure as a parent, like he let his daughter down.

"And how long have you not been eating for?"

"Around three months."

Miranda scribbles something else in the file. "Have you missed your period?"

Courtney turns red as she glances at her dad. "Um..."

"I'm your father, Courtney, and I'm a doctor. I've heard this all before."

With her face still red, Courtney looks back at Miranda. "Yes," she whispers.

"Have you ever made yourself throw up?"

"Once," Courtney says, grateful to be off of the embarrassing previous topic.

But her father's reaction isn't good.

"What?" Andy questions. "Five months of cutting yourself, three months of not eating, and you've even forced yourself to throw up? Courtney, do you have any idea of what you're doing to yourself? Anoreixa can cause severe cardiac problems. It can affect your kidneys. And making yourself throw up? That could wear the enamel on your teeth away and it makes it easier to get cavities. And your bones can get weaker and weaker..." He stops talking when he notices Courtney has started to cry. "Courtney, baby, please don't cry. I'm so sorry, honey."

Courtney can't stop sobbing as she clings to her father, her face buried against him as he gently rubs her back. She thinks back to when everything used to be okay, before her parents seperated. Courtney had been a happy little girl growing up. She used to leap into her dad's arms when he got home from work and she never had to worry about a thing. But now...things changed.

"It's okay, Courtney, it's all over," Andy says as he holds his daughter close to him. Courtney stills cries, showing no signs of calming down. Tears are pouring down her face and she can barely catch her breath.

Miranda silently exits the room, her heart breaking for Courtney as well. The poor girl has gone through so much.

"I can't breathe," Courtney worriedly announces, gasping for breath as she tries to control her sobs.

"You're okay, sweetheart," Andy reassures her. "Just take a deep breath. Better?"

Courtney nods, wiping tears from her eyes. "Yeah."

"You have a new room now. It's in the adolescent wing," Andy explains. "Are you ready to go?"

"Alright," Courtney agrees, slowly standing up with her father's assistance. When she feels his arm wrap around her back for support, Courtney starts to walk out of the room.

Courtney doesn't remember much else. All she knows is as soon as she closed her eyes after climbing in the bed in her new room, she fell asleep.

* * *

><p>She hears people talking in whispers when she wakes up. Courtney's eyes flutter open and when the room comes into view, she can see her mother and father sitting next to each other beside her bed. She notices they're holding hands.<p>

"Hi, sweetie," her mom says, a smile on her face. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Courtney replies as she starts to sit up. Her dad raises the bed so Courtney can lean against it.

"Are you ready to eat something, Courtney?" Andy asks.

"I'll try."

"Okay. I'll be right back." Andy kisses his daughter's forehead and squeezes Rena's hand before he leaves the room.

Now it's Courtney and Rena left in the room. Courtney wants to talk to her mother but she doesn't know what to say. She's grateful when her mom starts to talk first, but when she realizes what Mom wants to talk about, she wishes the conversation was about something else.

"So you never told me how serious it is with that boy," Rena says. "Tyler, right?"

"Yeah, Mom, Tyler, but we're not even going out. It's not serious."

"Really? Because when I got back here, he was sitting outside in the waiting room. As soon as he saw me he asked how you were doing."

Courtney started to pay closer attention to her mom's words. "He's here now? Are you serious?"

Rena nodded. "Yes. It's so obvious that he likes you. And I think it's pretty clear that you like him, too."

"Okay, Mom, are we done now?"

"You should have seen your father's face when I told him Tyler was here. I thought he was going to be sick. He doesn't like the idea of one of his little girl's having a boyfriend."

Courtney's face turned red. "Tyler's not my boyfriend, Mom."

"He doesn't like the idea of you talking to a boy, Court." Rena pauses for a moment and then she says, "Do you want me to go get Tyler?"

"No," Courtney says immediately. "You don't need to talk to him. And if he's here when Dad gets back..."

"The boy is sitting in the waiting room for _you_, Courtney. He wants to make sure you're okay. I think you should talk to him."

Courtney sighs, shrugging. "Fine. I'll talk to him." She hides her smile at the thought of seeing Tyler.

"Alright. I'll go get him."

Courtney watches her mother leave the room. Her dad comes back not long after Rena leaves.

"I'm not eating that. It's disgusting," Courtney proclaims, her face scrunching up at the sight of the food.

"It's going to seem that way at first, Courtney, but-"

"No, it's hospital food, Dad. It has nothing to do with me eating. I can't eat hospital food."

"Oh, you can't? Does it say that somewhere in your medical file?"

Courtney rolls her eyes as her father opens the file folder on the table.

"Let's see...here we are. Medical conditions. Nowhere here does it say you can't eat hospital food."

"Fine. I don't..." Courtney trails off when she sees her mom and Tyler standing outside the room. She looks up at her dad to see if he's noticed. Judging by the look on his face, he definitely has.

"Look, Courtney. You have a visitor." His tone indicates that he's less than enthusiastic.

"You don't need to be mean to him. He's really my only friend."

"Alright. You can talk to him."

"Wow, thanks for your permission," his daughter replies sarcastically as she rolls her eyes. "Okay, Dad, you can go."

"Why? I'm fine here."

Courtney glares at him. "Bye, Dad."

"I'll be back in two minutes, Courtney."

"I bet you will be," Courtney mutters as her father walks away. She checks the clock on the wall for the time. She knows her dad is going to be back in _exactly _two minutes, right down to the second.

Rena walks in the room with Tyler right behind her. She smiles at her daughter as she says, "Look who I found in the waiting room."

Courtney can't stop her face from going red. "Bye, Mom."

Still smiling, Rena turns to leave. "Bye, Court. Nice to meet you, Tyler."

"You, too, Mrs. Yablonski."

"Rena is fine," she says before leaving the room to go find Andy.

"I'm sorry," Tyler states as he sits in the chair beside Courtney's bed. "I should have known."

Courtney shakes her head. "No, you shouldn't have known. I've been hiding it. There was no way you could have had any idea of what was going on."

"But now I'm thinking about all the signs I've missed!" Tyler sounds extremely upset with himself as he says this. "You wear longsleeves all the time, you're never at lunch, you always flinch whenever something touches your wrists..." He stares into Courtney's eyes as he takes her hand in his own. "I'm so sorry, Courtney. I should have known." Tyler leans forward and kisses her, something he's wanted to do for a while.

"Tyler..." Courtney's voice is weak as she looks up at him. She squeezes his hand. "Please listen to me. Please. This isn't your fault. There's nothing to be sorry for. Trust me. Please."

They sit in silence for a moment, knowing that no words are needed.

The silence lasts until Courtney says, "My dad's coming back."

And of course, exactly two minutes have passed, right down to the second, when Andy walks-more like runs-back into the room. Rena is practically chasing after him, reaching out to put her hand on his arm to stop him.

"Leave them alone!" Courtney hears her mom say. She's happy because she remembers the last time she heard her parents speaking like that, they were still married and clearly in love. It looks like things are getting better.

"I guess your dad doesn't like me very much," Tyler points out. "Maybe I should go."

Courtney reluctantly lets go of his hand as she watches him stand up. She never thought she'd feel this way about him. He was part of the popular crowd and she was just...not.

"I'll come back tomorrow," Tyler promises. "Bye, Courtney."

Courtney smiles. "Bye, Tyler." She watches as he leaves the room, already missing him as he steps outside the door.

Courtney can hear her mom saying hello to Tyler with an evident smile in her voice. From her dad, though, there's silence. At least she doesn't see a glare on his face. Progress.


	5. Chapter 5

**Last chapter! Thank you for reading this story!**

Dr. Allison Kincaid is not a complete stranger to the stubborn behavior she's receiving from Dr. Yablonski's daughter. She's experienced this situation with the patients she's spoken to regarding eating disorders and self-harm during her residency. But there's something unique about Courtney's case because underneath the stubborn wall she seems so intent on hiding behind, it is clear that the seventeen-year-old is determined to get better. The girl realizes something is wrong and it's only the first session.

"So I hear I'm your first patient since you completed your residency," Courtney says to begin the meeting with the psychiatrist. She's trying as best as she can to keep the topics of her eating disorder and her self-injury as far away from the discussion as possible, though she knows they well eventually surface in the conversation. They are, after all, what the session is all about.

"How'd you hear that?" Dr. Kincaid questions, unable to prevent herself from asking even though she knows it's not very professional. She realizes that she's been given the task of treating Dr. Andrew Yablonski's daughter and if she fails in the slightest bit in leading Courtney to a successful recovery, she won't be considered a friend to any members of the staff at Three Rivers.

"My dad's actually a surgeon here. Maybe you've met him?" Courtney rolls her eyes after her sarcastic comment, knowing full well the psychiatrist has met her father. Her dad was the one who asked Dr. Kincaid to treat her. "Well, because of him, I have some friends who are in high standing at this hospital. You know, like David, Miranda, and Pam. I guess you can say Ryan, too. Whatever. That's not really what I'm getting at. Anyway, those friends are keeping me updated on everything that's going on here."

Allison simply sighs, thinking that she probably should have realized Courtney would know all the details of the workings of Three Rivers. "Then you know what I'm here to discuss with you."

Courtney nods seriously from her bed in the hospital room she has called home for the past two days. "Yes. We're going to be talking about why I'm crazy and what I should do instead of cutting and starving."

"'Crazy' is not the term that is applied to this situation," Dr. Kincaid states, attempting to move the girl's mind from the thoughts that were telling her that she was crazy for being depressed.

"Oh, really? So are you telling me that 'sane' is a more appropriate term?" Courtney rolls her eyes and it's clear that she's starting to get upset.

"You've been going through some tough situations-" Allison is cut off before she gets the chance to continue.

"'Tough situations'?" Courtney quotes, her anger now completely showing. She then repeats, "'_Tough situations_'? No kidding! I don't need you to tell me I've been going through tough situations! I know all too well! Why do you think I'm here?" Courtney looks up at the IV from which she's receiving the nurtirents she's been lacking for months and then turns her stare to her wrists. The crimson red marks on her right wrist are slowly starting to heal and even though her left wrist is bandaged, Courtney's completely aware of the cuts that are present there, too.

She realizes how childish her outburst must have sounded. Holding back the tears in her eyes that are threatening to fall, Courtney looks up at the psychiatrist. "Help me."

Feeling extreme empathy for the girl in front of her, Dr. Allison Kincaid nods, determined to do just that.

* * *

><p>Rena sits at Andy's desk as she waits for her daughter's first therapy session to end. She's taken the next few days off of work since Andy told her they would be the most difficult for Courtney as she would be introduced to sessions with a psychatrist and would go without any means of self harm. Rena decided she needed to be there for her daughter so she's spending her days at the hospital, only leaving periodically.<p>

Andy walks into his office to find Rena. Courtney's therapy session is about to end and he knows she wants to get to their daughter's room immediately.

"Your office is such a mess," Rena mutters because it's what she always says. She's not really concentrating on anything as all her thoughts lead to her daughter.

"Courtney's session is almost over," Andy says as he walks over to Rena.

She turns to look up at him from where she's seated behind his desk. "I must have lost track of time."

"There's just a few more minutes," Andy explains, shrugging. "Do you want to head over now?"

Nodding, Rena rises to her feet. "Yes." She's been anxiously waiting for this, even as soon as Courtney's session began.

They waste no time in making their way to the hospital's adolescent wing. They're silent on the way there; no words are needed as their thoughts are the same. They've always been in sync that way.

Just as they reach the correct hallway, the door to Courtney's room opens and Dr. Kincaid steps out. She takes a few steps to reach Courtney's parents.

"How is she doing?" Rena immediately questions as she grasps Andy's hand. It's not something she's done for a while but the feeling is natural.

"Your daughter is making steady progress. She's very determined," Allison comments, reflecting on the session. "She's on her way to recovery. I will meet with Courtney every other day for the next week. We'll switch to a weekly basis after that. How long would you say until she can go home, Dr. Yablonski?"

"Right now it's looking like two weeks," Andy says, stating the time frame he estimated his daughter would remain in the hospital for.

Nodding in understanding, Allison continues, "Alright. We'll start out patient sessions at that point."

"Thank you very much," Rena says, taking in the schedule the psychologist just explained.

"Yes, thank you, Dr. Kincaid," Andy echoes.

With one last smile and quick nod, Allison leaves.

Andy and Rena rush into their daughter's room to find Courtney falling asleep. The girl looks up at them with tired eyes.

"Go to sleep, sweetheart," Rena says quietly as she gently strokes Courtney's hair.

Courtney wastes no time in listening to her mother and closes her eyes.

* * *

><p>Courtney smiles when she sees Tyler in the doorway of her hospital room. She immediately waves him in and he walks over to the chair beside the bed.<p>

"I'm getting out of here tomorrow," Courtney says with a grin on her face. After just over two weeks in the hospital, she would finally be able to go home the next day.

"That's great," Tyler replies with a smile to match. Then he prepares himself to ask the question he's been waiting to ask her. "Uh...Courtney?"

"Yeah?"

He pauses a moment before continuing. "So, you know..."

"What do I know?"

"Well, you know, prom is coming up soon. I was wondering if maybe you...Do you want to go with me?" The question comes out in somewhat of a rush, but Courtney understands it just fine.

"Prom?" she echoes in question form. "Really?"

Tyler nods, fearing rejection. He should have never asked. He was so stupid. He should have known. He-

"Okay."

He's glad he asked. He's not stupid. He notices how Courtney's simple answer turned his thoughts around.

* * *

><p>When Dr. Kincaid steps in the doorway of Courtney Yablonski's room, it's not the first time she's seen the boy in front of her. She saw him once a few days ago when he had been exiting the room.<p>

"Boyfriend?" Allison wonders once the kid is out of earshot as she sits beside Courtney.

Courtney shrugs. "Prom date."

"He's cute," Allison points out.

Courtney simply blushes, her cheeks turning slightly red. Yeah, she's noticed that. Countless times, actually.

"So it's our last session before you leave the hospital," Dr. Kincaid begins as she opens the file folder on the table next to her.

The session continues as usual, but Courtney's having a hard time concentrating. Her mind is focused on going to the prom with Tyler.

* * *

><p>Her dress is black, of course. The strapless column gown is very elegant and simple, ruched and completed with strappy black heels.<p>

"You look beautiful," Rena says as she fixes a lock of her daughter's thickly curled hair. "Don't you think so, Brooke?"

Courtney's little sister nods, smiling up at her. "Yeah!"

The sound of a car pulling into the driveway makes Courtney's stomach do a flip-flop. "He's here." She goes to the door to let him in.

"Be nice," Rena quietly warns her husband as she places a hand on their son's shoulder.

"I always am," Andy replies, never taking his eyes off the sight of Courtney and Tyler walking into the room together.

After a little small talk and Andy's instruction to "have her home as early as possible" with an implied "or else," the two teenagers leave to go to their school's prom.

"Will I go to prom someday?" Brooke asked, looking up at her parents.

"Someday," Rena answered while at the same time Andy said, "No."

"Why not?" Brooke's hopeful face dropped and a frown replaced it.

"I can't have another one of my girls go to prom, Brookie," Andy explains, lifting his youngest daughter off of the ground.

"Well it's many years away, thankfully," Rena comments. "Come on, everyone. Let's go. We can't stand here all night."

Will follows her into the living room, Andy close behind with Brooke in his arms.

Later, when Brooke falls asleep between her parents during the movie they had been watching and Will's eyes are threatening to close, Rena whispers to Andy, "She's come such a long way."

Andy nods in agreement with his wife. "We all have."


End file.
